


Gonna paw, paw at you (like a cat paws at my woolen jumper)

by seasonschange



Category: Borderlands (Video Games)
Genre: (or so rhys thinks), Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Jealousy, M/M, Platonic Relationships, Possessiveness, Sugar Daddy, domsub if you squint
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-21
Updated: 2017-07-21
Packaged: 2018-12-05 05:14:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,070
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11571078
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/seasonschange/pseuds/seasonschange
Summary: Rhys gets himself a platonic sugar daddy. Vaughn worries. And Jack drops hints.





	Gonna paw, paw at you (like a cat paws at my woolen jumper)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [LostTheBucky](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LostTheBucky/gifts).



> RIP vine but also [thank you, vine.](https://vine.co/v/eTt0YbZ6uXZ/card?api=1)

* * *

Vaughn knocked on the bathroom door, this time more insistently.

"I said gimme a minute!" Rhys shouted, then turned to look back at his reflection in the narrow mirror, arms braced over the sink.

He looked so good he could barely tear his eyes off his own image.

It had taken a few months, but he'd finally given up all pretense of fighting what was happening to him. He'd been changed, little by little, over the past year and if the changes were small at the beginning and mostly unnoticeable—they were now an undeniable fact. He'd been molded into someone other than the person he used to be—something pleasing to the eye of the only man he'd ever wanted to impress. And he finally saw it for the gift that it was.

Rhys stared as his new ECHO-eye implant shone a warm yellow in the reflection, similar to honey. That, in addition to his new haircut, were his benefactor's latest whim. Although uncertain about those major changes at first—Rhys couldn't complain about them now that he was facing the results.

He looked like a million bucks. And the most important part was that it made him feel just as valuable. And powerful. He knew it was nothing but an illusion, but he could easily get drunk on that feeling regardless.

Rhys shivered as a pleasant warmth spread from the base of his throat to the tips of his fingers, and then pooled in his lower belly.

Besides the latest upgrades in his appearance, he'd donned the outfit Jack had had tailored for him a week ago for this very occasion. He’d also ditched his regular prosthesis for the beautiful platinum arm Jack had bought him during their short but unforgettable stay on one of Eden Five’s moons. Rhys hadn't been surprised to find out that Hyperion Corp owned it, and that the satellite was nothing but a giant vacation resort.

The Rhys in the mirror was still staring back, mouth slightly open in silent contemplation.

There was a radiant blush where the opening of his black shirt left one delicate collarbone and the upper part of his tattoo exposed. And his flush only spread further when he pictured the way he would look at him tonight. Not that it had ever been that way between them. Rhys, above all else, still cared mostly about the gifts and attention because of the way they made him feel. But he couldn't deny that some tiny part of him was starting to crave something... else.

And lately, he felt he wouldn't mind if their mutual arrangement evolved that way.

Not at all.

_"Rhys? Hey, are you going out again?"_

Rhys blinked in confusion, jarred out of his fantasy by his friend's voice.

"Uhhh... yeah."

_"With Jack, huh?"_

"Vaughn, we've already had this conversation, just let it go."

Now he was starting to get annoyed. Right before his first date with Jack in ages too. Just great.

God damn it.

Not that Vaughn knew that it had been that long since Rhys wasn't allowed to share with anyone the existence of one Timothy Lawrence. So to his friend's best knowledge, Rhys and Jack had been going out a lot more than they actually did.

_"I'm worried about you, is all!”_

There was a pause.

_“Just because your boyfriend is an asshole doesn’t mean you have to be one, too."_

“He’s not—ugh.” Rhys rolled his eyes, knowing that his friend was playing obtuse purposefully to get a rise out of him. “We already talked about that. He’s not my boyfriend, so please stop calling him that.”

He noticed the way his new implant shifted smoothly inside its orbit—unlike his previous, basic Hyperion-issued one that chafed pretty badly if it wasn't taken out and polished on a regular basis. His new eye was nothing like that piece of crap. It was the very best Hyperion had to offer, so of course Jack had decided Rhys needed to have it.

It was technically Timothy who'd taken Rhys shopping and then held his hand during the (rather scary) operation, but they both knew where the orders were coming from. Rhys had felt pampered and cared for nonetheless, and Timothy was a nice guy to spend time with, so it wasn't so bad.

He just kind of wished, sometimes, that he could get to do all those things with Jack instead. Like go window-shopping, or take a leisurely walk through the upper-level gardens. But first and foremost Jack had a company to take care of, along with the entire population on Helios Station. So however annoying and impractical, Rhys understood and welcomed Timothy's visits as the "adequate" substitute they were, and enjoyed their time together as he'd have with a friend.

Besides, Timothy always came with new instructions from Jack as to how to occupy their time, which never let them forget who was the one in charge. Wherever they went, whatever they did, Jack's shadow was always looming over them. And Rhys, for one, didn't find that ominous or creepy at all. It felt… oddly liberating, to know that everything was being taken care of.

Sure, Timothy wearing Jack's appearance like a second skin had been quite the shock at the beginning, and Rhys had had more than a passing crush on the guy for the first couple of times he'd filled in for his absentee boss. But as they'd gotten to know each other over time, he'd come to the realization that sweet guys just... didn't do it for him.

He was probably more than a little twisted for feeling that way, but he'd always been more in his element when he was being jeered right and left by Jack's incessant teasing and utter inability to shut up for even a moment. In some inexplicable way, Rhys was feeding off that nervous energy. It was unpredictable, yet somehow Rhys always knew his place, and never felt pressured to perform in order to hold the other's interest. And their conversations—although far too rare for Rhys' taste—were never dull. Unlike the comfortable, but sometimes boring silences he and Timothy often shared.

Rhys could bask in the thrill of having been in the actual Handsome Jack's company for hours afterwards.

That hadn't changed since the first day of his internship at Hyperion. And if on top of everything he was being paid with expensive gifts for the few times he'd been on Jack's arm at official events, or simply kept the man company in the privacy of his spacious office—well, who was he to refuse such a sweet deal?

_"Did you die in there?"_

"Har-har," he shot back distractedly. “Hilarious.”

To think that this unusual arrangement had all started so randomly, and down on Pandora of all places.

A year ago, Handsome Jack had gathered a team of Vault Hunters and some Hyperion workers from various departments to accompany him on an expedition. It was a simple, routine check-up visit to one of Hyperion's most valuable mining sites, but for Rhys and a big portion of his co-workers, it had been their very first time setting foot on the planet.

Jack had later informed Rhys that he’d noticed the awkward yet eager programmer towering over the rest of them only because it had been the first time his sensibilities had been so "gravely attacked" by someone else's fashion sense.

Recalling his outfit from that time pulled a smile at one corner of Rhys' mouth. He really hadn't ever had an inkling of what he was doing when it came to dressing himself. Oh, of course, he'd been adamant that he knew what he was talking about, and that it was all a very conscious choice. But to tell the truth—he'd been swinging it, just like always.

And it had taken Handsome Jack making fun of his ridiculous tie in front of thirty people, then ordering him to take it off on the spot for Rhys to realize he had actually been doing a very poor job at swinging it.

Once he had complied, he'd been made to watch with the rest of their party as Jack set the thing on fire with a booming laughter. But just when he'd thought the whole thing over, to his complete stupefaction Jack had pulled him aside, and growled in his ear not to worry his pretty head about the tie. Because he was planning on getting him something far more suited for him than that monstrosity.

At the time, Rhys hadn't known if he was supposed to take him seriously, or if that were merely part of the joke. So all he'd done was gape and nod.

But a couple hundred hours and a planet-side mission later, he'd received a very special package at the apartment he and Vaughn shared. And by package, he meant that two very strong ladies had been necessary to carry all the boxes inside.

Vaughn had been speechless for at least an hour after Rhys had shared his suspicions as to who could have sent him this extravagant gift.

And later that same day at work, he'd received a video on his ECHO terminal of Jack slouching sideways in his big chair, barely sparing a glance or two at the screen as the record played out:

_« Heyyyy! Kiddo. See? Just as promised, I sent you a few selections of mine that I'm suuuuure will improve your wardrobe immensely. So take yo pick and I don't know, toss the rest! And don't bother thanking me, I'm doing us all a public service here, and I bet your colleagues will be forever grateful and yadda yadda. But hey, if you really wanna show your boss some well-deserved appreciation, you can bring him coffee tomorrow at his office. Or something. In any case, I've let the guards know. »_

Needless to say that Rhys had gone the next day, and gotten teased to hell and back for the amount of sugar cubes in the coffee.

Then Jack had asked him, feigning innocence, if Rhys owned any type of shoes that hadn't been designed by a clap-trap unit on crack. And if he'd mind humoring his boss and entertaining him for the next hour as they went shopping.

 _"Listen, man,"_ Vaughn's voice rose again from the other side of the door, interrupting Rhys' trip down memory lane. _"He's our boss, alright? He's a multi-billionaire... unscrupulous... killer! And he's at least ten years older than us, and—and he's Handsome Jack, for crying out loud! So pardon me for giving a crap whenever you go waltzing off with one of the most dangerous people of the galaxy like he's just another guy from work! Just so you know, Rhys—I'll be sitting here all night like every night you go on one of your 'dates', and I'll spend that time stressing over it. And no amount of convincing will stop me!"_

With one farewell look at his reflection, Rhys stepped back from the sink and made his way over to the door.

Vaughn was still pacing on the other side when he came out, making a show of crossing his arms over his chest disapprovingly.

"Look," he started before Rhys could open his mouth, "I know you do it for the money, and I respect that. But just... be careful? Tell me you'll be careful, Rhys. I can only imagine what Jack would do to us _both_ if you get on his bad side."

"I'll be careful," Rhys said breezily, side-stepping his best friend to go grab his jacket. "Now stop nagging me, you're starting to sound like my mom."

"Oh, the poor woman would be spinning in her grave if she knew."

"Vaughn, you didn't even know my mom."

"Exactly."

"And as I've told you before, it's not like that with Jack."

"Uh-huh."

"Goodnight, Vaughn."

He'd barely closed the door to their apartment when he heard Vaughn's reply.

_"SAY HELLO TO YOUR HANDSOME DADDY FOR ME!"_

* * *

Jack had set their rendez-vous at his office, mentioning something about their final destination being a restaurant on the upper levels of the station—those reserved exclusively for the top brass.

Rhys arrived a quarter of an hour before the time they'd agreed upon, and it was all Vaughn's fault.

Rhys had been forced to leave their apartment before his friend's false assumptions of his relationship with Jack made him say things he didn't really mean. And with only a little hesitation, he decided he might as well let himself in. It was either that or spend the next fifteen minutes pacing the hallway under the apathetic scrutiny of the guards.

Once he’d dialed in the password, he glanced at the set of reinforced double doors, and took one last moment to appraise his reflection in the smooth black chrome before they slid open.

"Rhys! That you?” Jack’s voice rose from the depths of his spacious office the moment Rhys walked in, his tone turning the statement into a question.

But he knew it could only be Rhys. Jack had to be perfectly aware that only a selected few knew the entry code to his office, and he only had plans for tonight with one of them. But maybe he found a certain comfort in keeping up appearances, considering Rhys was not that much more than his employee. He approached Rhys’ presence in his office as something as official and removed as he could make it.

He was drawing a line in the sand, making it clear from the beginning as to where they stood.

It smarted a little, but if Rhys was being honest with himself it wasn’t anything unexpected. Despite indulging his boss’ need to dress him up like a doll, he’d been far from expecting any other kinds of welcome. Regardless of Jack’s antics, which ranged from outrageously vain and self-serving on a good day, to downright criminal on any other—He knew the man took his job with an ardent dedication Rhys had yet to witness in anyone else in the company.

Rhys thought better of answering him as he considered the distance left between himself and Jack’s desk. Instead he made his way across the imposing room, careful not to trip in his haste to obey.

“Aren't you a bit early?” Jack went on, unperturbed. “Not that I'm complaining but, uhhh..." He looked at his watch, then glanced obliquely at Rhys. He didn’t look pissed off, but there was something unequivocally menacing in the way he studied Rhys’ approach.

Like an animal seizing up a rival. Planning its next move.

Feeling a bit faint under the intense scrutiny, Rhys stopped a couple of feet from Jack’s desk, and tried his best to cover up his nervousness by clasping his hands behind his back. But Jack merely tsked and tapped the armrest of his chair.

"Come closer, baby. Much, _much_ closer."

With a nervous chuckle, Rhys complied, perching himself on the aforementioned armrest. He was kind of disappointed Jack didn't want him in his lap instead, but didn't dare bring that up. Despite the obviously sexual undertones in all their conversations, Jack had never crossed  _that_ line, and Rhys... wasn't about to humiliate himself by overstepping.

"Lemme take a look," Jack demanded next, taking Rhys' chin between forefinger and thumb and bringing their faces close enough so he could admire Rhys' upgrades. "Oh, yes! That's fricking gorgeous on you, baby. Were you scared?"

Rhys gently shook his head 'no'.

"Timothy held my hand the entire time," he said, laughing and blushing at the memory. "So, it wasn't half as bad as I'd imagined it. Thank you," he added, voice softer.

Rhys realized he didn't take the time to thank Jack often enough, too busy staring in awe at the shiny offerings dropped in his lap.

But instead of appearing pleased, Jack only frowned in response.

"D'you like my body double, cupcake? Guess he's got the looks without all the hangups, huh?"

Jack's fingers were digging into Rhys' face as he spoke, holding him still.

"W-w-what?" Rhys whimpered in discomfort, confused by the sudden jump of topics. "We're not... I'm not—"

Jack cut him off by releasing him briskly, as if he'd been burned.

"Oh, you  _better_ not be  _fucking_ him, cupcake," he growled.

Rhys immediately shuddered, unused to that kind of language coming from his boss. Handsome Jack didn't say words like...  _fucking_. It was too unprofessional, too unlike him, too... dirty... and of course it sped up Rhys' pulse like nothing else, heat rising to his face.

But Jack ignored the reaction, and his slip-up, in favor of confusing Rhys' heart even further: "Cus otherwise, I'd _fucking kill him_. I'm not throwing my fortune at ya just to let anyone have ya, baby. You're mine, now, and you can be  _damn_ sure I'm keeping ya."

Mismatched eyes met, and held. 

Rhys took a shaky breath, letting Jack's words and their meaning slowly sink in. He had had no idea that Jack's possessive side went  _that_ far. He had had no idea what he'd been walking into when they'd first started this.

He wasn't allowed to have eyes for anyone else, because Jack didn't share.

 _Because...,_ Rhys mentally tried to finish that logic, _because... he wants to... fuck me himself?_

Another shaky breath made it past Rhys' gaping mouth at that crazy, _crazy_ thought.

Meanwhile, Jack observed him with a confident smirk. Then, he stood up, dusted off his suit and offered Rhys his arm.

"Alright, now we should be on time for our dinner reservations. Care to join me, beautiful?"

Blushing furiously, Rhys jumped to his feet.

* * *

"Vaughn... Vaughn... _Vaughn!"_

His roommate mumbled, trying to roll away and burrow further in his bed, but Rhys wouldn't let him, poking him viciously until the man was wide awake, willing or not.

"What?!" Vaughn cried out as he finally sat up, exasperated. 

"I think you were right," Rhys babbled, eyes bright and face flushed. "About Jack! I think it's more than... the money and the gifts!"

Vaughn rubbed his eyes, yawning. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"I think we were _actually_ dating this whole time! I can't believe you were right?! Handsome Jack, he... I think  _he_   _likes me!"_  

Vaughn froze.

Then slowly looked up at his friend with bleary eyes. "Rhys, man... I'm sorry, but... how did you  _not_ already know that?"

* * *

 

**Author's Note:**

> I started this in 2016, damn. Anyway, here it is. *blows kiss @ Mead & Nasa for the support*  
> Also, it's gonna be a series, so it's not an entirely finished story yet. I just gotta get the ideas from there *taps head* to here *taps screen*


End file.
